Voices of Change 16: Anupama Vaidya, Business & People Strategist and Independent Director
Anupama Vaidya is a distinguished Business & People Strategist, Reflective Coach, Board Member, and Organization Design Specialist. As the Founder of Los Aurigas, she empowers organizations and individuals to achieve transformative growth.
Our team spoke to her recently on corporate governance and independent directorship. Here are the excerpts from the interview:
- How can independent directors improve corporate governance practices in India? Please share examples if possible
Anupama Vaidya: India is home to over 2.6 million registered companies, yet only a small fraction significantly impacts the economy. The top 500 companies, including those on indices like NIFTY50 and BSE Sensex, contribute nearly 50% of India’s GDP, underscoring their dominance and the immense untapped potential within the broader landscape. As India aims to become a developed nation by 2047, harnessing this latent potential is crucial. If just 1% of these companies — approximately 26,000 firms — could operate at full capacity, it would result in a fifty-fold increase in high-impact companies, dramatically boosting economic output, employment, and innovation.
The critical question facing Indian corporations today is: What can be done to transform the vision of sustainable and responsible business practices into reality? The answer lies in strengthening corporate governance, where Independent Directors play a pivotal role.
Independent Directors act as catalysts for growth, guiding companies that may be overly focused on internal operations to broaden their perspectives. They enable organizations to seize emerging opportunities while remaining vigilant about potential risks. Their contributions are essential for shaping corporate governance frameworks and embedding principles of accountability, transparency, strategic foresight, and ethical practices.
Key areas of influence:
· Ensuring Accountability and Transparency: Independent Directors hold top leadership accountable for their actions, ensuring that strategic decisions align with long-term goals and shareholder interests. Their impartiality enables them to advocate for transparent financial disclosures, discourage malpractices, and uphold ethical standards.
· Ensuring Accountability and Transparency: Independent Directors hold top leadership accountable for their actions, ensuring that strategic decisions align with long-term goals and shareholder interests. Their impartiality enables them to advocate for transparent financial disclosures, discourage malpractices, and uphold ethical standards.
· Providing Strategic Insights: Independent Directors bring a wealth of diverse expertise and industry experience, making them invaluable in helping organization navigate complex business landscape, identify growth opportunities, and manage emerging risks. They broaden leadership’s strategic vision, challenge conventional thinking and foster innovation. Their impartiality ensures strategies are ambitious yet sustainable, enabling companies to build resilience, enhance competitiveness, and achieve long-term success in dynamic market environment.
· Promoting Sustainable and Ethical Practices: Independent Directors play a vital role in embedding sustainability into business strategies, focusing on both strategic as well as operational impact on the Ecosystem including the environmental, social, and governance (ESG) criteria. They encourage companies to balance profitability with social responsibility and long-term environmental impact.
· Safeguarding Stakeholder Interests: Independent Directors act as a voice for shareholders including minority shareholders, ensuring their interests are protected in decisions that might disproportionately favour majority stakeholders.
· Fostering Resilience Through Risk Management: They help build robust risk frameworks, enabling companies to anticipate and mitigate challenges proactively while ensuring resilience in volatile environments.
The integration of Independent Directors into boards is not merely a regulatory requirement — it is a strategic imperative for sustainable success. Their presence fosters the transparency and accountability essential for attracting investments, improving market confidence, and ensuring long-term viability.
By embracing their roles as impartial overseers and advocates for ethical and sustainable practices, Independent Directors can help Indian corporations navigate complex challenges and unlock their true potential. Their leadership will be instrumental in scaling mid-sized and emerging companies into globally competitive enterprises, driving India’s march toward economic excellence and its vision of becoming a developed nation by 2047.
2) You are a respected figure in HR & Talent Transformation and Organisation reconstruction. Please share your contributions as a senior leader in your domain
Anupama Vaidya: Over the past three decades, my journey has been deeply fulfilling, allowing me to contribute meaningfully to organizations, teams, and individuals across various industries and functions. At the heart of my work has been aligning business vision and objectives with people strategies, driving sustainable and scalable growth. Operating at the intersection of strategy and psychology, I’ve focused on creating environments where both people and businesses can thrive together.
Throughout my career, I’ve been fortunate to tackle a wide array of challenges, from leading an IPO for an IT company early on, to navigating complex and uncharted management issues. With a solid understanding of business dynamics and deep insights into people, I’ve reshaped business models, redesigned organizations, and driven strategic business plans and governance frameworks to build high-performing teams. I’ve been instrumental in forming leadership teams, mentoring future leaders, and ensuring organizational readiness for change, all while fostering resilience and adaptability through coaching and people-centric interventions.
I’ve streamlined processes, broken down silos, and fostered cross-functional collaboration, all aimed at enhancing innovation and operational excellence. My role as an “Integrator” comes naturally, as I dive into business problems, model solutions, and drive them to implementation through large-scale transformation programs. Additionally, I’ve led cultural change initiatives and worked to establish business-centric HR functions that support long-term growth.
Leadership development has been a central focus of my work, particularly through neuroscience-based programs. I’ve designed and mentored several leadership development programs, building leadership pipelines and guiding young talent into key roles. My efforts to upskill and reskill the workforce have been instrumental in aligning employee growth with organizational success, boosting engagement, and enhancing retention.
As a Certified Independent Director, Advisory Board Member, and Business Transformation Coach, I’ve consistently driven impactful outcomes for organizations, blending experience with simplicity and humility. My entrepreneurial journey has allowed me to partner with organizations, entrepreneurs, and leaders, helping them unlock their full potential by aligning strategy, culture, and talent for sustainable growth and meaningful impact.
Through insight-based mentoring and coaching, I guide individuals and teams toward excellence, helping them explore uncharted territories of success. I work alongside them to build, reshape, and reconstruct both organizational frameworks and personal pathways, laying the foundation for lasting progress and achievement. The most rewarding part of this journey has been seeing the positive impact of these efforts on both individuals and organizations, creating workplaces that not only meet business objectives but also prioritize the growth and well-being of their people.
3) How can overall board governance and board leadership be enhanced in the Indian corporate world?
Anupama Vaidya: India has made significant progress in enhancing corporate governance, particularly within its boardrooms, driven by recent regulatory reforms, a growing emphasis on sustainability, and the integration of technology.
In my experience, Boards are increasingly recognized not merely as compliance entities but as pivotal players in shaping a sustainable and ethical corporate landscape.
The following areas can be further strengthened:
· Enhancing Board Education and Training: Regular training programs focused on governance best practices, risk management, and emerging trends are essential. This will empower board members to make informed decisions that align with long-term organizational goals. Additionally, company leadership should be oriented on effectively leveraging boards to shape their organizations.
· Active Participation in Strategy and Risk Oversight: Independent Directors should not be passive participants and must be actively involved in shaping corporate strategy, assessing risks, and ensuring that the organization is aligned with its long-term objectives, including sustainability and innovation. There is a high scope for this involvement and Boards can play a role.
· Building Capability-Oriented Boards: Diversity in boards — encompassing gender, experience, and expertise — is vital for fostering innovation and understanding stakeholder needs. Encouraging healthy conversations among diverse perspectives can lead to more comprehensive decision-making.
· Utilizing Technology for Governance & Prioritise Digital Savviness: Leveraging digital tools can streamline governance processes, enhance data analysis for decision-making, and improve communication among board members. Digital tools can facilitate more efficient governance practices, enabling real-time updates and better collaboration. Additionally, integrating data analytics and big data into decision-making strengthens the board’s ability to make informed, strategic choices. However, for this to be effective, boards must prioritize digital savviness and embrace digital transformation. By doing so, they can gain deeper insights into business performance, market trends, and emerging risks. Adopting these technologies will help boards navigate complexities, improve strategic foresight, and ensure better governance outcomes.
· Establishing Strong Risk Management Practices: An effective board must prioritize risk management and oversee the implementation of robust frameworks that cover not only financial risks but also operational, strategic, and reputational risks. These frameworks should integrate ESG risks into the governance process. Additionally, Boards must engage in scenario planning and contingency strategies, evaluating potential risks from economic, geopolitical, and environmental factors, allowing them to proactively anticipate challenges. Having clear contingency plans helps organizations remain resilient in times of crisis.
By implementing these strategies, Indian corporations can strengthen their governance frameworks, ensuring that boards effectively lead organizations toward sustainable growth while maintaining accountability to shareholders and stakeholders alike. As the corporate landscape continues to evolve, robust board governance will be essential for navigating future challenges and opportunities.
— — — — — — — —
Brief Profile
Anupama Vaidya is a distinguished Business & People Strategist, Reflective Coach, Board Member, and Organization Design Specialist. As founder of Los Aurigas, she empowers organizations and individuals to achieve transformative growth.
